Dresden 2017 – scientific programme
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BP: Fachverband Biologische Physik
BP 9: Posters - Cell Mechanics
BP 9.13: Poster
Monday, March 20, 2017, 17:30–19:30, P3
Local tubulin concentrations in the C. elegans metaphase spindle — •Johannes Baumgart1, Marcel Kirchner2, Stefanie Redemann2, Jeffrey Woodruff3, Jean-Marc Verbavatz3, Anthony Hyman3, Thomas Müller-Reichert2, Jan Brugués1, and Frank Jülicher1 — 1Max Planck Institute for the Physics of Complex Systems, Dresden — 2Experimental Centre, Medical Faculty Carl Gustav Carus, Technische Universität Dresden — 3Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Dresden
During cell division, the mitotic spindle physically separates the duplicated chromosomes. The spindle is formed by many highly dynamic microtubules. Microtubules are stiff filaments that form by polymerization of tubulin dimers. Here we determine the concentration profile of tubulin dimers by combining electron with light microsocopy data.
Tomographic electron microsocopy is able to identify microtubules in the spindle, but cannot resolve the tubulin dimers. Therefore it provides a quantitative measure of the local concentration of tubulin within microtubules. Light microscopy data with a GFP staining of tubulin provide a relative measure of the total tubulin concentration, since both polymerized and dimeric tubulin, are stained. We calibrate the light microscopy signal using the electron microscopy data. From this quantitative analysis we determine a local enrichment of the dimeric tubulin at the centrosome. Our results suggest that the centrosome accumulates tubulin dimers which have a high affinity to the pericentriolar material and thereby facilitate localized microtubule nucleation.